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Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani wins slim majority in preliminary vote count
- Afghanistan held elections in September, but results were repeatedly delayed amid technical issues and fraud allegations
- Ghani won 50.64 per cent of the vote but his rival Abdullah Abdullah has three days to file a complaint before final results are announced
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Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani appeared to have secured a second term on Sunday, after election officials announced he had scored a slim majority in preliminary results from polls that were marred by low turnout.
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Ghani’s apparent clean win, however, was unlikely to immediately quell the controversy swirling around the September 28 poll, with his top rival Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah vowing to contest the result.
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Ghani had won 50.64 per cent of the vote, easily besting Abdullah, who scored 39.52 per cent, and enough to avoid a second-round run-off.
Candidates now have three days to file any complaints they may have before final results are announced, probably within a few weeks.
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As soon as results were announced, Abdullah’s office said in a statement he would contest them. “We would like to make it clear once again to our people, supporters, election commission and our international allies that our team will not accept the result of this fraudulent vote unless our legitimate demands are addressed,” the statement read.
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